The Almighty Ring

Sarila howled the moment she saw Jiang Fei stepping through the catwalk platform and away from his ship, “Fei!”

She sprinted with all her might and just when she was about to leap into his embrace, Isabella appeared miraculously, to ‘save’ the day. She stepped forward and with her combat level of more than two million, she easily slipped in between Jiang Fei and Sarila.

Sarila took a good look at the shorter female who was standing in the way of her being in the arms of her long lost lover.

“Fei, who are these people?” she asked.

Jiang Fei choked on his words as he revealed the truth, “They are… well… there’s no easy way to put this. They are my female companions.”

His heart squirmed, his stomach growled, and his throat went dry. Suffice to say, he was feeling incredibly guilty.

Pride aside, any man would and should have felt blessed if they were in Jiang Fei’s shoes. To be surrounded by beautiful females with extraordinary abilities of their own was a dream come true.

But that was exactly the point! Jiang Fei knew how lucky he was to have them with him, and that only served to further accentuate his guilt. He owed them for their unconditional love.

Jiang Fei knew that all the girls would not hesitate to die for him, which is why he felt guilty, especially since he had been galavanting around the universe instead of being by their side.

Sarila gasped. “I cannot believe this…”

Kaa’Ina was stunned too. Just as she was about to approach Isabella, a black light flashed from Jiang Fei’s body. It washed over Sarila and Kaa’Ina, and the two quickly calmed down.

“Ah! They are our elder sisters!”

“How rude of me! If Jiang Fei had told us about you, we would have prepared a gift for our fellow sisters,” said Kaa’lna.

Both Sarila and Kaa’lna reacted similarly, in a way that was completely unlike them! Besides Isabella and the other girls, even Bison and Jiang Fei’s jaws dropped.

As he closed his gaping jaw, Bison muttered to himself, “Now I’ve officially seen everything…”

Kaa’Ina had been working with Bison during Jiang Fei’s absence, and throughout that time, the mature, dignified woman had never been kind, let alone the gentle lady she was portraying right now.

Bison had been impressed that someone like Jiang Fei could court such a wild cat, but today… today was a whole other matter.

He had been ready to take a step back from getting involved in such a complicated family problem. Instead, he ended up stunned to his core when he saw Kaa’Ina smiling, and even addressing Jiang Fei’s other female companions as her elder sisters!

By human standards, both Kaa’Ina and Sarila’s ages were that of a great-great-great-great-grandmother on Earth! Although Sarila was an underaged Caithian, she was still over 349 years old, and Kaa’lna was much older than that!

Isabella gasped. “Oh my…”

She was about to lash out against the incoming kitten, but had softened like melted ice-cream when she saw how polite and behaved the two became. At that moment, she knew that Jiang Fei had been telling the truth. She saw the black light and how it transformed Sarila and Kaa’Ina into docile house cats.

Everyone else witnessed the transformation too and nodded in agreement. Both Sarila and Kaa’lna had indeed fallen prey to some kind of influence from the black matter on Jiang Fei.

Technically speaking, this entire problem was not caused by Jiang Fei. No one, not even the spunky little Isabella could blame him for ‘luring’ two poor souls into being infatuated with him.

Thus, the feisty yet ever so kind-hearted Isabella took the two in and accepted them as sisters. There was no enmity or hostility, only kindness and acceptance. And perhaps, a little pity.

Jiang Fei quickly excused himself and called for Bison to follow him, “Alright then! You girls get along now. Bison, come with me.”

If he stayed, things might drift to another direction and that was not the reason he wanted to meet with Bison. In fact, there was no time to waste at all.

Bison happily acknowledged the call, “Aye, sir!”

The two quickly marched to the end of the catwalk and out of the hangar bay.

Jiang Fei let out a loud sigh when he was finally out of the girls’ sight, “Sheesh…”

With Isabella potentially about to explode at any moment, it had been an incredibly tense situation. Thankfully, she hadn’t done anything.

“Sir, I… I… you’re just too awesome. This one cannot express all his admiration!” said Bison, smiling and giving Jiang Fei two-thumbs-up.

Beautiful women flocking to the strong is but a common sight in the universe. However, it took a miracle for them to not fight amongst themselves for a single person.

Bison had lived a long enough life to know that it was impossible for rivals to calmly settle disputes. But what he saw today totally changed his perception. He now knew that Jiang Fei was a man of many talents, including, of course, how to handle bountiful women.

Jiang Fei scoffed awkwardly, “Heh.”

Some things he could not explain and some he was too lazy to explain, while others were better left forgotten. Especially the days when Isabella would practically rip his head off for just talking to Slyphy.

“Now, to the main topic. Bison, do you have any news for me?” asked Jiang Fei.

“To start from the beginning, the army’s morale dropped significantly when you disappeared from the Alpha Sector. Everyone was… on edge and worried since no one could confirm your… well… whether or not you were alive,” said Bison.

Jiang Fei was the person who united the entire army, and without him, it could break apart at any given time.

Jiang Fei snorted. “I’m back now. So, I’m going to assume that problem will resolve itself soon.”

Bison nodded in agreement. “That indeed is true, sir. I am truly happy by your return. The army will surely be at ease.”

“Tell me more about the situation in the Alpha Sector,” said Jiang Fei. That was his major concern.

“I cannot be certain of anything since we do not have an established network of communication. To be precise, the Trade Federation does not trust us. Without you in charge, they refused to communicate with us,” explained Bison.

“However, I have noticed the presence of many reinforcements focused primarily in the Domini System. The situation is extremely tense, like the calm before a storm.”

Jiang Fei arched an eyebrow. “Has anything happened around the Alpha Sector? Were there any major battles there or in close proximity?”

“A major battle did erupt but we do not know the outcome. It seems a gag order has been placed and only a few higher officials know about it,” said Bison.

“What about the Trade Federation? Have they done anything?”

“Everything seemed normal at first. But I have noticed they have been secretly getting soldiers to retreat from the Domini System.”

That was all Bison knew. He could not be certain since he had limited sources of information.

Jiang Fei frowned. “Retreating…?”

If all forces were calling in reinforcements, it would undoubtedly mean that they were at war with the invaders from the Gamma Dimension. If that was the case, why would the Trade Federation pull back their soldiers?

“Sir, I suggest asking General Lockseed directly about this matter. He might not talk to me but I’m sure he would be more inclined to reveal the truth to you,” said Bison.

“I will.”

Jiang Fei would have to meet General Lockseed sooner or later anyway. He wanted to discuss his sudden absence, as well as ask about the Alpha Sector. Jiang Fei also wanted to personally thank Lockseed for getting him out of trouble during the small incident with the space police.

When he finished talking to Bison and returned to the girls, Jiang Fei found that they were now all close. Sarila and Kaa’lna were extremely friendly. The way they talked, and especially the way they had been constantly adding the prefix ‘sister’ when addressing Isabella and the other girls was incredibly gratifying.

No one could be mad at them! Then again, the girls could empathize with the two catgirls. They had become infatuated with Jiang Fei because of the unknown black matter. It was not their fault and surely not Jiang Fei’s.

In the end, after a cutesy conversation and polite discussion about Jiang Fei from their experience in Dhiras, everyone was getting along just fine and dandy.